EBCI hopes to expand Qualla Boundary by 3 acres
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will seek to expand its trust lands by 3.088 acres following a unanimous vote…
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Tribal Council balks at ‘no hunting’ request for Hall Mountain
Despite an impassioned plea for immediate action from the tribe’s Natural Resource Department, the Cherokee Tribal Council voted unanimously last…
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Jackson, Macon work to resolve boundary line
Taxpayers who own property straddling the Macon-Jackson County line may notice changes to their ad valorem tax bills next year.
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Haywood reports six COVID deaths in 10 days
In the last 10 days, Haywood County has mourned the loss of six more people to COVID-19. They ranged in…
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Weather update from Haywood County Schools
Haywood County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bill Notle said the county will be dealing with potential winter weather schedule changes in…
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FAKE NEWS FREAKOUT! SEASON 6!!
Well, here we are. It’s the 394th of December 2020, and not much has changed in the way of misinformation…
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Is it 2022, or 2020 part 2?
Looking back to early 2021, we all thought this was going to be our year. I mean, how could it…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Mr. Miyagi Award
We’ve been told that participation trophies are the devil, but we’re also certain that everybody who has lived through 2021…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Tale of Two Statues Award
The Town of Sylva and Jackson County share this award for the two opposing statues that occupied downtown Sylva this…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The ‘Cool Mom’ Award
Amy Poehler’s character in “Mean Girls” memorably conferred this title on herself back in 2004, and like that character, the…
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Spoof Awards 2021: Improv Award
The Cherokee Tribal Council displayed profound mastery of improv’s cornerstone rule of thumb, “Yes, and,” as it spent much of…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Happy Hour Award
Residents of the Qualla Boundary and Robbinsville can now join the rest of the state in a collective 5 p.m.…
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Spoof Awards 2021: Nicolas Cage Award
This one goes to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which, like the much-memed Hollywood actor, just seems to be…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Gambler Award
As Kenny Rogers famously sang, “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Monkeywrench Award
This award goes to the members of the Waynesville Task Force on Homelessness who were hell bent on not doing…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Rumble Award
Rumble is a women’s newsletter started by the female staff members at The Smoky Mountain News. The tagline for Rumble…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Grinch Award
The Grinch Award goes to Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran, but not for the reasons you may think. We know…
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Spoof Awards 2021: Being A Woman Award
Maggie Valley Town Planner Kaitland Finkle has experience in her field, multiple master’s degrees and a clear, coherent way of…
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Spoof Awards 2021: Better Late Than Never Award
As the late, great rocker Tom Petty once opined, “The waiting is the hardest part,” and it sure seemed that…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Person of the Year Award
This year was a challenging year in so many ways, but that was especially true in Western North Carolina.
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Mr. Congeniality Award
And what a year it was for Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers.
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Spoof Awards 2021: The WTF Award
The first-ever award for mismanaging and destroying a longstanding community institution goes to … that longstanding community institution itself.
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Spoof Awards 2021: Sashay My Way Award
When legendary Drag Queen RuPaul kicks a queen off his reality tv show for up and coming drag queens, he…
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Spoof Awards 2021: Most Likely to Get My Vote Award
The winner of this year’s “most likely to get my vote award,” goes to John Hinton. While other politicians seem…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Carpetbagger Award
As if Henderson County native David Madison Cawthorn’s meteoric rise to fame wasn’t surprising enough, Cawthorn’s Nov. 11 announcement that…
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Spoof Awards 2021: Good Sport Award (a.k.a. Bullsh*t Award)
All teachers everywhere are recipients of the Bullsh*t Award every year for what they have to put up with, whether…
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Spoof Awards 2021: Woke Citizens Award
Cullowhee Valley School stole the running for the Woke Citizens Award when it voted to retire its outdated Rebel mascot,…
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Spoof Awards 2021: The Winter of Our Discontent Award
After 27 years of loyal service to the Main Street merchant community in Waynesville, Wall Street Books got booted. The…
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Grandfather Mountain animal habitats prepare for winter
Trimming a tree for the holidays? So are Grandfather Mountain’s resident elk. Each year, the resident animals at Grandfather Mountain receive…
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‘I’ve just never seen water that angry’
By Bill Graham • Special to SMN | Poet T.S. Eliot wrote that there’s something about growing up beside a…
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Haywood Eye Care celebrates 70 years
Haywood Family Eye Care has been a fixture of eye care in Western North Carolina for nearly 70 years.
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Omicron spreading fast
Haywood County Public Health has received notice of 120 new cases of COVID-19 in the last week compared to 156…
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Haywood Rotary Clubs deliver Christmas boxes
Members from three Rotary Clubs in Haywood County delivered 651 Christmas dinner boxes Dec. 21 to local families. The Christmas…
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Incarcerated at Christmas: Swain inmates thankful for family visitations
Swain County Detention Center became a place of reunions and redemption during the last few weeks as inmates had their…
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Congress ends EBCI challenge to Catawba casino
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ last hope for stopping the Catawba Indian Nation from building a casino in North…
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WCU trustees approve athletics fee hike
The Western Carolina University Board of Trustees voted unanimously during its Dec. 3 meeting to recommend a schedule of fees…
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Swain County Schools faces recruitment, retention obstacles
In the midst of the third school year affected by COVID-19, school systems are keenly aware of the stress the…
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Public hearing slated for RV moratorium in Maggie
Maggie Valley Town Hall was packed Tuesday evening for the regular December Board of Aldermen meeting. This was the first…
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Franklin Town Council fills vacant seat
Adam Kimsey will join the Franklin Town Council after the board unanimously appointed him to fill a two-year unexpired term.
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New Report Sounds Alarm on Affordable Housing — Again
By Barbara Durr • Asheville Watchdog | This story was originally published by Asheville Watchdog, an independent nonprofit news team serving Asheville…
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Cherokee gaming LLC to expand its reach
The company the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians formed earlier this year to purchase Caesar’s Southern Indiana Casino hopes to…
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Emergency shelter operations conclude in Haywood
Haywood County’s emergency shelter operations for Tropical Storm Fred survivors have concluded this week, four months after sheltering first began…
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Ghost Town developer pleads his case
Ghost Town developer Frankie Wood made his case to members of the Maggie Valley business community during a presentation at…
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Herrons offer home to family that lost everything
By Bill Graham • Special to SMN | For Ed Herron, childhood at Lake Junaluska in the 1960s was idyllic.…
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Operation Medicine Drop
North Carolina created Operation Medicine Drop to help people safely dispose of medications and prescription drugs. A series of locations…
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Cherokee passes casino smoking ban
Casinos in Cherokee and Murphy will be permanently smoke-free following a majority vote from Tribal Council Dec. 9, codifying a…
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Jackson declares Darrell Woodard Day of Service
Jackson County and the Town of Sylva have officially declared Dec. 10 as Darrell Woodard Day of Service.
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Plea agreement delayed in Sylva man’s Jan. 6 case
Lewis Easton Cantwell, a Sylva resident facing charges related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building, was…
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Cashiers-Glenville recreation plan approved
Jackson County commissioners have approved a Cashiers-Glenville Recreation Center Master Plan that will include the construction of a splash pad…
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Nikwasi story told in traveling Smithsonian exhibit
The history of the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin will soon be part of a Smithsonian Museum traveling exhibit that will…
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